The Best Names at the 2016 Summer Olympics
There are hundreds of athletes set to compete in dozens of events at the upcoming Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro next month, and most of them will be noticed based solely on their competitive acumen.
But there are some who will get Brazilian attention based on something else.
Their names.
In other words, for every Michael Phelps there's an Ilya Ilyin.
Whether juvenile, silly or a combination of other tittering factors, here are some that either gave us a chuckle upon first inspection, or struck us with their majesty.
Drop a line in the comments to let us know if they reached you in the same manner, or if you've stumbled upon others that you think could be worthy of their own listing.
9. Gong Jinjie
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Fans of a certain age will always link the word "Gong" to a mid-1970s television show starring Chuck Barris.
So what's better than taking the same word and combining it with a Chinese cyclist who'll be heading to Rio for her second crack at the Olympics. Now 29, Gong Jinjie and team sprint partner Guo Shuang set a world record in a qualification heat on the way to earning silver at the 2012 Games.
8. German Sanchez Sanchez
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The event is synchronized diving. But no, you're not seeing double.
This Mexican competitor really does have a pair of very similar names.
German Sanchez Sanchez is actually a third-time Olympic qualifier this time around, having plucked a silver in the 10-meter synchronized platform with Ivan Garcia in the 2012 Games in London. He also goes it alone in the individual 10-meter platform event, in which he took 14th in London and 22nd as a 16-year-old at the 2008 Games in Beijing.
7. Usain Bolt
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No, it's not the sort of name that inspires chuckles from junior high school boys.
Instead, Usain Bolt might have the single most perfect sprinting name in history.
The Jamaican will arrive at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro looking for an unprecedented third straight high-speed sweep of the 100- and 200-meter dashes. He was golden at both Beijing in 2008 and London in 2012 and figures to be prominently in the mix again next month in Brazil.
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6. Yang Man
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She'll be 21 when the Rio Games are a few months in the rearview mirror, but the name Yang Man will become part of Olympic history early next month when she and her Chinese teammates face the host team—Brazil—in an opening-round qualifying game on Aug. 3.
She scored a single goal this season while playing for the Shandong Ladies club team, but it's her name, not necessarily her skill set, that probably will be worthy of a raised eyebrow during competition.
5. Ruby Tew
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Perhaps only Mick Jagger could hang a name like Ruby Tew on a New Zealand rower.
And yes, we're kind of glad he did.
Now 22, she won a silver medal at the 2015 World Rowing Championships with her home country's women's eight team, which qualified the boat for the 2016 Games.
If the boat goes ahead and wins gold in Brazil, dare we say it will be "Ruby Tew's day"?
4. Brooke Sweat
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Well, if you're trying to gain attention as a U.S. beach volleyball player in the aftermath of the three Olympic titles of Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings, it helps to have something for people to remember.
Brooke Sweat seems to have that before she even hits the sand.
The Floridian with the perspiration-soaked name will make her Olympic debut in Brazil alongside partner Lauren Fendrick, and it'll be the highlight of a career in which she's already made a habit of swimming upstream against competition typically located in Southern California.
"I can't say that it's a dream come true because when I was growing up I never dreamed of playing in the Olympics," Sweat told NBCOlympics.com.
3. Dong Dong
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OK, come on. Admit it.
There's not a 13-year-old boy in America that could sidestep this one.
Not only is Dong Dong a Chinese trampoline gymnast with both a gold medal (2012 London) and a bronze medal (2008 Beijing) in his Olympic past, but his name is DONG DONG, for Pete's sake!
It'd be one thing if he was simply an anonymous competitor whose name would never see the light of day come competition time, but the idea that an NBC TV guy might have to say his name on air at some point will be worth staying up until 2 in the morning for the highlights shows.
2. Aichen Wang
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If you close your eyes you can almost hear Dick Enberg calling the Olympic windsurfing competition.
"Oh my, Aichen Wang!"
The 31-year-old will be a third-time Olympian when competition begins in Brazil, having already taken seventh place at the 2008 Games in Beijing and 18th place at the 2012 Games in London.
We can only hope he'll be close enough to the medals this time around to warrant at least a fleeting TV mention.
1. English Gardner
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English Gardner isn't just the seventh-fastest female 100-meter sprinter in history.
She'd also quite likely be the fastest English gardener in history. If that was her thing.
The 24-year-old New Jersey native will make her first trip from the Garden State to the Olympic stage next month, and she figures to be a prominent contender when it comes time for the 100 meters—which she won at the U.S. trials with a 10.74-second finish at Eugene, Oregon.
And if she ends up marrying a guy named Pete Landscaper, an idea for a business won't be hard to come up with.
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